


A Simple Symptom? No!

by 8Bbit (8BitRabbit)



Category: Moral Orel
Genre: After "Honor" but before the timeskip, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Kind of an AU tbh, Lesbians, Living and Learning, Not Beta Read, Nurse Bendy deserves better, Redemption, Religion, Religious Guilt, Slow Burn, Stephanie deserves better too, religious trauma, the "you're nice" kids - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:47:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29414370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/8BitRabbit/pseuds/8Bbit
Summary: A nurse mends broken bones, but love and care do well for a broken soul.In which Stephanie gets into a workplace accident and has to get the help of the local nurse!
Relationships: Nursula Bendy/Stephanie Putty
Kudos: 7





	1. Stephanie's Workplace Accident

**Author's Note:**

> A new story for a fandom that's been essentially dead since 2015! I plan to actually follow this one through, don't worry. I have plans. Hope you enjoy the gays.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Stephanie hurts her wrist and goes to the hospital.

"So why did you agree to give me a Prince Albert even if you knew I was 12?"

It was a quiet Friday in Buried Pleasures. An unsurprisingly slow day since whatever trouble Orel got the town in with the ladies of Babylon Club was resolved by Wednesday. Not the first time he's done business with clubs from Sinville, but Stephanie was impressed that it's happened twice. Selfishly, she wished that his father hadn't stepped in yet. Business was good with antics like this after all.

The two were the only people in the shop. Stephanie taking inventory and restocking where she needed as Orel swept the floor. While normally she wouldn't let a child work in a place like this, Orel practically begged that he work here as every other place in Moralton refused to give him money at all due to his limp. "You shouldn't have to pay for damaged goods." He was apparently told. Which— in her mind— was total bullshit, but you can't expect much from the people of Moralton. Stephanie walked out from behind the counter with a step ladder and set it down by one of the high shelves.

"I don't get paid enough to question people's choices in a place like Moralton. Your reputation precedes you, kid."

"Oh," Orel stopped sweeping for a bit, "Is that a good thing?"

Stephanie picked up some boxes and carefully climbed the ladder. "Eh. Depends, but I think it's fine in your case. Your reputation is just you want to do good by God."

From the corner of her eye, she could see Orel beaming. She reached up and carefully started stacking the boxes up on the shelf. Just some massage wands and such. The sounds of whatever ironically Christian metal band from the radio and Orel walking around, sweeping faded back in as they lulled back into silence. If only for a moment.

"Hey, Stephanie?" Orel said.

"Yeah, Orel?"

"Are you coming to the church potluck next week? Reverend Putty told me to give out flyers for anyone who's interested." He stopped his sweeping for a moment to watch her push boxes onto the shelf.

Stephanie paused, a look of confusion on her face flashed for a second. "Oh! Right! I almost forgot. Yeah. Reverend Putty asked if I could help set up before people arrived."

Her father was certainly trying to be some type of presence in her life, even asking her to visit every now and then so they can catch up and talk. She was sure that this was another idea for him to make up for lost father-daughter time. Not that she minded. It was kind of welcome, but it was weird having a stable parental figure around.

"That's great! My mom's going to make chicken casserole for it and she doesn't really want me or Shapey to be in the house while that happens because it has to be perfect so I can probably—" Orel started rambling on, dropping the broom that he was holding.

Stephanie stifled a laugh, reaching down for the last box for shelving. She got onto the tips of her toes to push the last box to the empty spot on the shelf. A job well done! She sighed in relief and went to back off. The thought of being on a step ladder left and re-entered her mind in that brief moment. Not that it mattered. She let out a brief and quiet yell and fell back onto her hands. Pain shot up her arm like lightning and she groaned.

"Stephanie! Are you alright?"

Orel stood over her with a worried expression.

She winced a bit as she got up. "I'm fine," she said, "See?"

She tried putting up both arms but, once again, pain surged through her right arm. _Ouch._

"Uh... Stephanie?"

"Yeah, Orel?"

"Do wrists bend like that?"

Upon inspection, the goth realized her wrist was bent like a wrench that's been extended too far. "Shit... No. They shouldn't, Orel. C'mon..."

She tried not to move her right arm move too much as she went to grab her keys and lock up the shop for the day.

Orel looked nervous as they headed to her truck outside. "Are you sure you can drive?"

"Yeah. It's not like you need two hands to do it. Let's go to the hospital then I'll take you home."

* * *

The entire car ride to Dr. Martin Luther's was all but silent with Orel trying to get Stephanie to go _away_ from the hospital. She did try her best not to get nervous from his constant nagging. A permanent limp wrist in her dominant hand is _not_ something someone like her needed. Especially in a place like Moralton.

"I'm just saying that there's probably a better clinic that we could go to."

Orel didn't stop talking as they passed the sliding doors into the sterile white reception area.

"I'll be fine. I'm sure that it's something minor that'll heal on its own." At least that was her hope and that Dr. Potterswheel wouldn't try and "fix" her wrist more than needed.

At the desk was Nurse Bendy. Stephanie was only familiar to her by name as she stopped by at the shop (seemingly against her will) by Principal Fakey— someone she also was only familiar with by name— a couple of times here and there. Most of what she knew is that she was seemingly very ditzy and that she took good care of her appearance.

Stephanie approached the counter, Orel not too far behind. "Hey, Nurse Bendy, is Doctor Potterswheel in? I'd like to have my wrist checked out," she asked.

The blonde looked up from a rather hefty textbook, almost surprised to see the two.

"Doctor Potterswheel is busy with another patient right now. Can it wait or something?" She asked, rather annoyed.

Stephanie was a bit taken aback by her attitude. She was a nurse, wasn't she? Wasn't part of that taking care of patients?

"Oh, that's great!" Orel inserted himself into the conversation, seemingly delighted. In all honesty, Stephanie had no idea if that was just how he was or he was going to try and get her to a different clinic.

"Orel..." She muttered in a warning tone.

He just continued, "Nurse Bendy, do you think that you could check Stephanie's wrist instead? We think it's broken."

As if to demonstrate, he gently lifted her arm and placed her hand on the desk.

Nursula looked unimpressed for a moment but then saw how the skin around Stephanie's arm was starting to purple.

"Ew. What happened?" She asked, cradling the hand in her own.

Stephanie let out a weak, embarrassed laugh. "Well, I was stocking shelves and fell back onto it..."

Nursula clicked her tongue in disapproval. After a few more seconds of examining, she wrote something down on a clipboard. "I mean, I guess I can check it out." She mumbled something out after that, but Stephanie couldn't quite make it out. "Follow me."

The nurse lead them into one of the more enclosed clinic rooms and had them both sit down. She carried the textbook she was reading from earlier as well. Stephanie managed to catch a glimpse at the title.

_First Aid & Pediatrics: Everyday Care for Everyday Accidents_

Well that was comforting (Sarcasm included.) The nurse treating her needed a book to read from while she worked. While she didn't want to judge since she looked fairly young to be a nurse, this didn't instil much confidence for her poor, purpled wrist.

She watched the nurse brush her blonde hair away from her face and stare intensely at the opened page. "Check if there is blood. If there is, apply pressure..." Nursula turned the page and continued mumbling to herself as she grabbed items from the cabinets above.

"Um... Not to be rude, but are you sure you're qualified to treat-" Stephanie couldn't even get a word in before Nursula threw her a look.

"Well, duh. I'm a nurse. I know stuff and... Things. About... Parts." She didn't sound all too convinced herself, but it was clear to see that she was putting on a confident front. Nursula looked back at her notes and examined Stephanie's wrist once again. "Okay. So like, your wrist is not in the right place-"

Obvioulsy, but the goth didn't say that out loud.

"So I'm going to, like, put it back then we put stuff around it so it doesn't move. Like, your bones and junk will heal in that place. This'll hurt. Maybe," She then mumbled more to herself than to Stephanie, "The book said it might hurt anyways."

"That's fine. I have a high pain toler-ANCE!" With a quick _crack_ , her wrist was almost back to where it was— if a bit tilted. It was a brief moment of pain, but it was quick like a piercing.

Nursula looked at Stephanie, "Is this how your wrist was before?"

"H-huh?" Stephanie glanced down for a brief second before making eye contact, or what should've been eye contact. "Oh! Uh- Close... face?"

Nursula was a bit closer than what was probably normal for a nurse and patient. It caused the humble lesbian to go cross-eyed and her vision to blur. Her breath stopped short out of habit.

"Oh, I'm close?!" Nursula backed up, giving Stephanie enough room to breathe.

"Yeah- No- Sorry, I just wasn't expecting-"

"Let me try again then."

 _CRACK!_ Nursula grabbed Stephanie's wrist again and forced it back into its original spot. Stephanie let out a "GAH!" in surprise. Her wrist snapped into a more comfortable position than before. Sore, but at least it was in the correct spot now.

Stephanie had half a mind to try and say that wasn't what she was talking about when she said close, but she saved herself the embarrassment of having to explain who Closeface was. Instead, she sighed in relief and tried moving her wrist.

"Ah ah ah! Don't move it!" Nursula grabbed what looked like a white cloth tube and slipped it over Stephanie's arm. She brought over the book and began following the tedious instructions of wrapping up Stephanie's arm in a short-arm cast.

Orel watched in awe as the nursed bandaged up his friend. "Gee, Nurse Bendy! I never seen you actually apply a cast before! I've only seen you give out ice packs."

Nursula chortled happily and wrapped a thin layer of bright pink, fibreglass cast tape around Stephanie's wrist. Not the colour Stephanie would've wanted, but she didn't complain. Her wrist was just snapped back into place.

"What? Like it's hard? You just do the thing in the book and then your body fixes it!" She seemed awfully chipped as she folded the white gauze over the fibreglass. "You should keep it on for uh..." She glanced over to her book, "For a while. Like a few days. Then come back for a check-up."

When Nursula finally let go of her arm, Stephanie wiggled her fingers a bit. "Heh. Nice work, Nurse Bendy. Thank you. I'll be sure to come back." She gave the nurse a smile.

Nursula smiled back brightly, closing her textbook. "No problem! This nurse thing is like, easier than I remember. And I don't remember much." For some reason that worried Stephanie for past patients. One last time, Nursula examined her handiwork with the cast but frowned.

"Anything wrong, Nurse?" Stephanie asked, mildly concerned.

"Your nail polish is chipped," she said, pulling out her own nail polish bottle from her pocket. "Black is a good colour on you. Totally love the monochrome aesthetic. But I don't have it like, I'm going to fix it with red instead."

"Oh. No, don't worry! My nails were chipped before we got here."

Whatever she said fell deaf on Nursula's ears as the smell of varnish filled the room. For a few minutes, the three of them sat there as Nursula quickly, yet meticulously, applied polish.

"How do you do it so quickly?" Stephanie was impressed. She usually never did her nails considering how much time it took. Only for special occasions or if she wanted the look for that day.

Nusula shrugged, "You just colour inside the lines. Duh."

She opened her mouth to make a rebuttal, but she didn't have one.

Once Nursula was done, she smiled once more and stepped back. "There. That was... Fun! Doing some else's nails is fun."

Stephanie wiggled her fingers once again. Her nails never looked better. "Thanks a bunch, Nurse."

"If you want, I can teach you how to do your nails. I feel like you'll look even cooler if your jewellery matched your nails."

She guided the two out of the room, happiness draining from her when she realized she now had to do the boring paperwork part of the job. Still, Stephanie couldn't help but notice she was holding herself a little higher than before. She thanked the nurse once more and booked an appointment for the next week before turning to leave.

Just about to exit, Orel suddenly turned back. "Wait, Nurse Bendy!"

Stephanie stopped in her tracks, not wanting to leave the God-fearing child because who knows what he could get up too if you leave him alone for too long.

"Yeah, Orel?" Nursula looked up from the forms that they just filled out.

Orel dug through his pocket and pulled out a neatly folded orange piece of paper. "You're invited to the church potluck later next week!"

She picked up the flyer and read through the flier and Orel ran back to Stephanie.

"Alright, have a good day! Bye!" He waved as he exited the hospital.

Stephanie chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair. "Let's get you home, Orel."

"Okay!"

The ride to Orel's home was silent but comfortable. She made sure to drop him off at the end of the street as she knew his parents had a bit of a problem with her. Not that she really cared. Someone had to make sure he grew up right in a town like this. Cringing internally, she made sure to add another piercing to her body when she got home.


	2. Praying, Pain, and the Potluck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nursula sees her newest patient at church!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two! Not as exciting, but some interactions happen. Sorry for the slow progress but I'm trying with everything going on in my brain ^^;; pls bear with me and tell me what you think <3

The dull droll of Reverend Putty's sermon echoes through the walls of the church. He didn't even need a mic in order to be heard. For most people on this early Sunday morning, the only thing keeping them up was the bright light of the sun shining through the tall windows.

At least, Nursula would like to think that everyone was thinking similarly. While she attended church every Sunday, she didn't really retain anything. If anything, she was just doing this to fit in with the citizens of Moralton. Today was a little different, though.

Joe was sitting next to her. This was the first time they were attending church together like mother and son. Something that made her actually look forward to today's sermon.

Just not enough to fully pay attention to it, though.

"Your health is a gift from God. Something you should thank him for every day," Reverend Putty's voice phased in for a moment and out again.

While it would normally be considered rude, she opened up her first aid textbook like it was normal. While she didn't remember much from her time in school, she did remember some things. Like covering up her magazines with her actual books or a dust jacket of one. It just so happened that her textbook was around the same size as the bible that she was given when she had moved here. The dust jacket really came in handy today. She absentmindedly read through the pages, trying not to attract the attention of Miss Censordoll from the end of the pew.

It continued on like that, with Joe next to her growing more bored by the second. Why couldn't Reverend Putty make things more interesting? Or like, there be a separate sermon for kids so they didn't have to sit through this bore...

Her prayers were in fact answered when the sermon finally ended. Joe was practically falling asleep in the pew, but she nudged him gently and he jolted awake.

"Finally!" He cheered under his breath, stretching his arms up as he stood.

Nursula put a gentle hand on his back, "Let's..." Her sentence drifted away from her mind like a leaf in a running brook. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a familiar glimmer of studded jewellery and sway of black hair. "Hold on."

She walked over to Stephanie, Joe— to his dismay— in tow. "Mom, why aren't we getting lunch already?" He asked.

"Just one moment. Mommy's going to do job-y adult stuff!" She smiled down at her son before turning her attention back to Stephanie. "Hey, Stephanie!"

Stephanie turned from her conversation with Reverend Putty to face Nursula. Her face lights up, "Hey, Nurse Bendy. Thanks again for fixing my wrist up."

"Oh, she's the one who fixed it..." She heard Reverend Putty mutter. It looked like he was about to say something to Nursula herself when a voice from a few pews over called out.

"Reverend Putty, I really enjoyed your sermon-"

"Ugh... I'll be back, Stephanie. Glad your wrist feels better." Reverend Putty gave Stephanie a pat on the shoulder and walked off.

Nursula holds up a finger and pulls out her textbook, now without the Bible dust jacket on it. She begins reading. "Are you experiencing any pain prior to your initial visit?" Her voice is as monotone as Putty's during a sermon.

"Um, no? It feels a little weird, but it doesn't hurt." Stephanie was perplexed, but still smiling warmly. If Nursula wasn't so focused on the answer, she'd even say Stephanie was amused.

"After bending your wrist at a 60-degree angle- Wait... That's for when the cast is off..." She lost her place on the page listening to Stephanie's answer. She ran her finger along the page, "Oh! So like... Have you been putting a cold pack on your wrist for ten to 20 minutes every one to two hours for the past-"

"I'm-" Stephanie cut in, "I'm doing all that. My wrist is doing good, Nurse Bendy."

Nursula blinked a couple of times, "Oh okay... You can just call me Nursula, by the way." Her eyes went back to the book. There weren't any more follow up questions or procedures that applied while Stephanie still had the cast, and she trusted that Stephanie was administering proper self-care. Scanning the page one final time, she dug through the pocket of her dress with her free hand.

"Give sticker for moral support..." She placed a bright yellow smiley face sticker on Stephanie's cast. "Moral?... Molar?... Orel?"

"Yes, Nurse Bendy?" Orel, as if summoned, chimed in. "Oh, hi Stephanie! I just finished talking to Reverend Putty!"

"Moral was the right way to say it..." Nursula paid no mind and just closed her book softly.

Joe took one look at Orel and then at Stephanie. Nursula wasn't the brightest, but even she could see the gears turning in her son's head. By the way his eyes were darting between Orel and the pierced girl next to him, it certainly seemed that way anyway. She wasn't sure about what, but who was she to question how people think.

"Hey, Orel. You're gonna be lame and talk about your lame church notes?" Joe mocked.

In true Orel fashion, he held his notepad up. "Actually, Joe, they aren't lame at all! God is the least lame thing-"

Joe looked ready to say something else but Nursula butt in. She didn't want her son fighting in a church! That's what parking lots were for! Also, she didn't want anyone hurt.

Nursula cleared her throat and put on her best motherly voice. She's been practising for moments like this with her stuffies for years. It's all been leading up to this. "Joe, why don't you and Orel hang out for a bit while Mommy does job adult thing!"

Stephanie looked a bit concerned. "I don't know if that's the best idea. I'm fi-"

"Okay, Mom!" Joe's face softened near immediately. "C'mon, Orel. Let's throw rocks at some dumb birds."

"Golly! I'm not sure about throwing rocks." Orel said.

"Don't worry. They'll fly away! It's like tag for birds!" While Nursula wanted to question that statement, she didn't know enough about birds and she didn't want to embarrass her son.

That's all the convincing Orel needed, apparently. "Oh! Okay..."

They walked out of the chapel together, leaving Nursula and Stephanie to talk.

"Don't aim directly at them!" Stephanie sighed as she watched them leave. "So... Is there anything else you need?"

"Uh..." Nursula opened up her book again. It wouldn't have been a surprise to her if she had missed something. She wasn't the brightest in the bunch. As she was flipping through the pages to find the _DIslocated Bones_ section. Stephanie placed a hand on her book.

"A-actually, don't worry about that," Stephanie said, "Uh... I noticed that this is like a first aid and pediatrics book? Are you studying to be a pediatrician?"

Nursula brightened up and shrugged. "Nooot really," she said, "Like, I already went to school and I don't want to go back exactly. But there's like seminars and lectures and first aid stuff that I can go to instead."

Not to mention she wasn't sure where she'd get the money to go back to med school in the first place.

"Oh! Uh..." It seemed like she wasn't expecting that answer. "Then, why study so hard?"

"Well, I take care of Joe and like, he's a whole child still. And like, the moms that go to the hospital say like children get hurt lots so I want to be ready. Just like a responsible adult thingy."

Yes. A responsible adult thingy. Something that she strived to do ever since she essentially took custody of Joe. She's even asked his sister for advice from time to time. A lovely person to talk to and really patient.

Every day she'd look through the newspaper, make phone calls and send letters inquiring hospitals about learning opportunities and new jobs. Her parents would be proud of her, she hoped.

It seemed like that surprised Stephanie further. "That sounds really sweet," she said with a soft smile. "I think it's really great that-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Reverend Putty slid up next to Stephanie. His hand landed on her shoulder with a familiarity that Nursula was only familiar in one sense.

"Hey, Stephanie. And _hello_ Nurse. I just wanted to remind you that you should come early before the potluck to help set but uh," He eyed Nursula up and down. "You might need some help fro. Nurse Bendy because of your..." He trailed off, vaguely gesturing at the cast on Stephanie's wrist. "You wouldn't mind that, Nurse Bendy? I'm sure even seeing a nice face would be good for anyone's hel-"

His sentence was cut short by Stephanie not-so-subtly clearing her throat. "Reverend, I'm sure she has something better to do."

"Oh not really," she shrugged. "I don't do much at work anyway and I'm pretty sure even Doctor Potterswheel is taking the day off for this thing."

"Really?" The two said in unison, the same surprised expression. Reverend Putty was much more delighted hearing Nursula was coming early though.

Stephanie let out a small laugh. "Great. I guess. Now if I break my other arm, you can have some extra practice on me."

Nursula's brow furrowed. That wouldn't do! "You shouldn't break your other arm. We'd be away from the hospital from all that fancy equipment. And like, we need that stuff if your bones go all bleh."

Stephanie just laughed again, which confused her. "What?"

"Oh. Nothing..."

Reverend Putty smiled at both women and clapped his hands. "Great. I'll also be there, Nurse." He winked.

Her expression soured, but he didn't seem to notice too much.

Stephanie cleared her throat again and he finally took his hand off her shoulder. "Well, I'd better get going. You need help getting home, Stephanie?"

"No. I'm fine, Reverend. I'll see you tomorrow." Stephanie smiled warmly at him and waved with her free hand as he left to the back of the church.

Their relationship perplexed Nursula and she grew mildly concerned. Though it could've been something like she had with Fakey.

"You go to church often? I, like, never seen you here before." The question slipped out before she could even think.

Stephanie shrugged with a small chuckle. "Oh, I don't usually go. That's why. I just came by since Orel thought it'd be nice to thank God for my wrist healing. I think I should thank the wonderful Nurse who helped me more, but hey. I can do both now." A grin spread across her face as she said so. 

Nursula flushed and waved her hand. Praise for her medical skills wasn't something she usually got. "It's, like, my job. It's no biggie."

Stephanie could only laugh. "Still, if you weren't there, who knows how my wrist would've ended up. But yeah. Orel basically made me go and I thought it'd be nice to hear one of Reverend Putty's sermons again."

"Really? You actually listened...?" The prospect that anyone could sit through those lectures besides Orel was astounding to her.

"I mean, it turns to white noise halfway through but I thought I should support-"

The loud creak of the front door echoed through the chapel as Joe walked in with Orel, who was holding a very smooth rock.

"Watcha got there, Orel?" Stephanie asked.

"I found a really smooth rock and I wanted to keep it." He proudly held up the pebble.

"You throw any rocks at the birds?" Nursula asked the two.

"Not really," Joe said, obviously disheartened, "All the birds flew away after the rock I threw hit the fence. And we couldn't find anymore."

"Aw. I'm sorry-"

"But that's not important!" He pulled on Nursula's arm. "I'm hungry. Can we go eat now?"

Well, Nursula looked at Stephanie with a sheepish smile. It seemed like all her job adult stuff was done now so that meant they could go. "Alright, Joe. Bye, Stephanie. Take care of your arm. Bye, Orel. Have fun with your pet rock." She waved back to the tow of them as Joe and her made way to the local diner.

* * *

After a couple of minutes of walking in silence, Joe piped up. "That lady that was with Orel..."

"Stephanie? Or his mom?"

"The lady with all the shiny metal in her face and ears."

"Oh, Stephanie!" Nursula smiled warmly at the thought of her most recent patient.

"Yeah. She looks... Cool." He mumbled the last word. Almost embarrassed to admit it.

That sentence almost made Nursula stop in her tracks. Joe never really complimented many people directly. She was even expecting him to say she looked dumb, but maybe he was having a change of heart! That made her feel warm. Maybe her parenting style was working! She did think Stephanie looked cool too, but this wasn't about that!

"Yeah! She does look cool!" She pushed open the front door to the diner. "Did you see her nails, though? Mommy did those!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! Doing people's nails is cool. She's cool."


End file.
